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But you shouldn’t get more cranky

In a prophecy about the Messiah’s birth, Isaiah said that Jesus would not only be called “Prince of Peace,” but “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6).

But rarely do we think of Jesus as a counselor. Maybe that’s because we (a) don’t pay him to listen to us, and (b) can’t picture him with a leather couch.

Even still, it’s a helpful way to think about one of his roles in your life: Counselor. Even though the back-and-forth is different than it would be with someone you’d find through Google, speaking honestly with Christ as if you were in a counseling relationship, and listening to his wisdom and direction through what he says in the Gospels, is a powerful ongoing conversation that directs your thinking and decision-making.

As you go deeper with him through his wonderful counseling, the more you discover the peace of which he is the Prince.

My friend Matt Brough wrote a book called Let God Be God. In it he says, “If you are spending time with Jesus, you will get angry at injustice from time to time, but you shouldn’t get more cranky.”

I love that. If your journey of faith keeps leaving you more and more cranky, it’s probably because you’re either not being fully honest with your Counselor about what you’re going through, or you’re unwilling to listen to his words of wisdom.

In therapy relationships, the counselor is way more effective when the patient is brutally honest. So as you think of Christ as your Counselor, be more honest than you’re currently being. Let him work. And receive back his words with authority as you ponder them in the Gospel stories.

Think of Jesus as the Wonderful Counselor he is. And you’ll increasingly discover the peace of which he is the Prince.